Discoverability

Ensuring that articles published in the Journal of Practice Theory are visible and easily discoverable is a top priority. We achieve this through strategic indexing and promotion efforts, making our content accessible to a broad audience.

As an open access and independent journal that never charges authors for submissions, we operate with limited resources and do not make use of search and indexing services that require subscription fees. Instead, we maximise the discoverability of our content by:

1. Optimising Metadata for Visibility

We use Open Journal Systems (OJS) to optimise the metadata for each article and the journal as a whole, making our content highly visible to web crawlers and search engines like Google Scholar. OJS is designed to support open indexing services and includes an OAI-PMH interface, which many indexes use to harvest metadata. Additionally, PKP Publishing Services collaborates directly with Google Scholar to ensure that journals hosted on OJS are properly indexed.

2. Registering with Specific Indexes

While abstracting and indexing services remain the primary discovery tools for researchers in the life sciences and STEM fields, in the social sciences and humanities, Google Scholar is by far the most important resource. Nevertheless, registering with specific and relevant indexes is crucial for further enhancing the discoverability of content published in the journal. Some indexes have specific requirements—such as a minimum number of published papers per year or adherence to best practices in open access publishing. To increase our visibility, we are actively applying to a a prioritised list of indexes, currently with a  focus on:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

If the journal is not yet indexed by your preferred service, we please contact us with your suggestions or submit an indexing request directly to the service.

3. Promoting the Journal

Beyond indexing, we actively promote the Journal of Practice Theory and its articles within the practice theory community and beyond, making use of the network led by the Centre for Practice Theory at Lancaster.

These efforts ensure that the work published in the Journal of Practice Theory reaches the widest possible audience, supporting the growth and impact of research in this field.